Sunfall
by Tabitha of MoonAurora
Summary: The origin story for Alagaeisa.  This tells of the birth of dragons and the origin of the races of Alagaeisa


It was early in the years if the world when everything fell into darkness. The sun's light left the skies, blinking out with the suddenness of a snuffed candle. Then winter fell upon the land. No races lived upon the world, only small creatures, crab-like in appearance, crawled the land for they needed no light. They burrowed far and deep, pitting the land to reach the warmth at its core. At its center, they did not find what their small, primitive minds expected, for instead of darkness, they found light and brightness that they could not bear. The crustaceans soon vanished in a puff of smoke for the energy at the center of the world was too much for them.

Over time, their tunnels widened and darkness reached into this shining core of heat and from this contact, a creature was formed. She was small at first, her legs stubby, her head cropped and her tail thin and wiry. She let out a loud crow and her voice echoes up and through the tunnels. Lonely and curious at what lay at the other end of her tunnel, she sought to venture through to the land. Unfortunately, the darkness scared her and she hung back for many days and many nights, thinking only of the warmth of her home.

Then finally, an idea blossomed in her mind. She turned to draw some of the fire into her body. Instantly, she felt her insides burning, but she was not harmed. With much jubilation, the inquisitive creature turned and ventured into the darkness of the tunnel, blowing a stream of fire before her as she went, so she would not be afraid. Her eyes glowed with the ferocity of her flames and her skin hardened into flat, plated scales to protect her from the fire. She grew claws to help her along, for at some times the path was very steep and she could not climb simply with her soft paws.

Finally, she came to the end of the tunnel and saw that it's side were steep and smooth so even her claws could not help her climb. Disheartened, the creature settled down in the cavern and started angrily up at the blackness above her head. At first she thought, if only she could see beyond this wall, for then she would not need to leave her home in the center of the world. As the days passed, she stretched her neck upward, trying to reach above the wall and over time her neck grew just a bit more until it was so long she could scarcely hold it upright without falling forward. Trying to balance herself, she stretcher her tail out and it grew longer and thicker, so as to be heavier. At last, far larger than she had once been, she reached her head over the peak of her cavern and blew a great fiery orb out into the darkness. It lit on the peak of a mountain and the land was bathed in light for the first time in thousands of years.

Now the creature looked about her and saw that she must explore this land, for there was much for her to see and many things for her to do. She saw the white skeletons of forests standing bare across the land and she saw stream dark with murk for all the life in them had died. She saw bare deserts and icy wastes where grass had once thrived and the sight of the land pained her, but of all the sadness she felt when looking at the land, was nothing as to the pain she felt when she looked at the sky. She let out a great roar of grief, for no longer was she small and her noises could not be considered that of a bird but deeper and more terrifying than that of any creature that had ever walked this world or ever would.

The sky was blank and empty, no stars, nor moon, nor sun. The creature knew she could not return to her cave, for there was so much she could heal. Inside the cavern, she stew until from her back grew great bony wings with leathery hide stretched between. She leapt into the air, hoping her new wings would catch her and carry her to the top of the wall. It took a few leaps, but she finally managed to fly from the cavern and out into the world.

When next the creature landed, it was near a frozen stream and she pondered how she would clear away the ice. Thoughtfully, she sighed and from her sigh, the water began to run freely and she jumped back startled. So again and again the creature breathed upon that land and each time she flew higher to spread the breath farther. Where the heat from her breath landed, the ground unfroze and seeds that had been hibernating there through the millennia sprouted.

When the creature had flown around the world and planted light and heat atop many mountains, she lighted along on the highest peak in all the world and gazed down at the work she had done. _How beautiful and yet it still seems so sad._ Then the creature spotted one of the small crabs and realized that the plants needed companions. And so from the roots she formed deer, squirrels, and tigers, bears,and from the plains she formed great lions and tall mammoths. From the streams she formed otters and fish, like those of old. These animals grew and populated the land.

But then when she returns to her mountain, she feels lonely and realizes that the sky it still empty and bleak. A breeze, the first in this new, age blew over her and she created creatures from the wind. Horses ran through the plains, forests and coasts, carrying this wind for her in all directions, for she made them so that the wind could ride on their backs and in their manes. Birds sprouted from the wind, built like her but with feathered wings for scales made them look odd. More and more creatures filled the world but still, she was alone. Atop her mountain, the creature gazed at the ice beneath her claws and then began to melt away a form in the deep ice. It was as large as she and as strong but he, for the creature she made was male, could breathe the coldest of breath, for he was born of ice and with him he could bring darkness.

Together they had but one remaining task, with their combined strength, they returned to the core of the world and lifted the heat and fire and energy from its center. With the power of their wings, they carried it high into the sky, higher than anything had ever flown and when at last they were done, they returned to their mountain and spread their new sun's remaining life across the world.

_a/n- So, this was a school assignment in which we were to write a myth. About halfway through the assignment I thought it would be really interesting to turn it into a myth about how Alagaesia began, a **Silmarillion**, of sorts, for the Inheritance world. This is just me dabbling in stuff I shouldn't be dabbling in, but let me know what you think. I can continue it, if you like, to include the origin story of elves, dwarves, urgals and men and the beginnings of dragon society. Or it can stay as is. Personally, I just thought it made a fun tale. Also, if you need a bedtime story for one of your Inheritance parents to tell their children, I feel like this would make a good one._

_Wotcher, _

_Tabitha of MoonAurora_


End file.
